Our Holiday cruise 2/3/07 - 2/8/07

[BlessedBeingMom]

We got back a few days ago from the Holiday out of Mobile. It was our first cruise, and we had a wonderful time. The children also had a wonderful time with Grandma while we were away. :D

We had a few minor complications with our trip. Our ship was held up by customs so we were late leaving Mobile by almost 2 hours. The original plan was to go to Costa Maya Monday (2/5/07) from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. However, the captain said we would have to go to Calica instead, as we would not have time to get to Costa Maya. At both ports, we would have actually docked the ship (making it easier to walk on & off the ship). Calica is actually like a rock quarry or something & you have to take a taxi to Playa del Carmen. The planned time was 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. for Calica, I think. Then we had some pretty rough weather (not really rainy, just windy & high seas). As we were leaving the dining room after supper, dishes went crashing everywhere. We hung around on the level below the dining room for a while (literally hanging on for dear life :eek: ) as the ship was rocking pretty good. We would take a few steps and then have to find something to grab onto. We noticed that the ship workers had taped a stash of barf bags by each elevator. I usually get carsick, but surprisingly enough, I didn't get sick the whole time, and I didn't even use the patches that go behind your ear that I brought. Anyway, apparently this was NOT the norm (we even saw a crew member running by looking very green, with her hand over her mouth!) A little while later we heard another round of dishes crashing everywhere. We joked that we would have to eat on paper plates tomorrow. I felt okay about it all though. We went out on the Lido deck & watched the waves (from behind the windows, they wouldn't let us on the actual deck) and felt the wind blowing a lot. Oh and that was our formal night, so we got to get all dressed up and take some nice pictures, thankfully before the worst of it all. I felt sorry for all the gals in those 3 inch heels though :eek:

Someone later told us they tried to order the cherry something-or-other for dessert and was told they were out of it since it had all crashed to the floor. Also, the evening show was canceled due to all this as it wasn't safe for the dancers.

Later on, I found out there was an earthquake in the area near Cuba that had caused the rough seas and apparently we had around 25 foot waves. :eek:

 

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Feb04/0,4670,CaribbeanEarthquake,00.html

 

Before dinner and before the seas got bad, the captain announced that we would have to tender in Playa del Carmen instead. This meant the port said we couldn't dock or it wasn't safe to dock or something, and the ship dropped anchor a ways from shore and took us to the shore in smaller boats. The plan was from 8 a.m. to 5 a.m., which conflicted with some plans we had with a group we were traveling with, so we were going to have to choose one or the other (and hated having to make that choice). We could have still went into town but I felt safer with a ship excursion. Anyway, due to delays from the rough seas, we ended up going to shore from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. instead, so it all worked out okay.

We had a great time onshore at XCaret. We went down the underground river, saw a bunch of iguanas (they were all over the place just like squirrels are in Mississippi), and saw some really cool sea turtles of all sizes. We also went through the aquarium which was interesting. We bought some souvenirs and got some change in pesos (for the kids). We saw a few Mayan ruins. On the way back, we stopped and looked in a few drugstores. It was interesting to see what all you can buy there without a prescription. We bought a few more souvenirs (postcards, not drugs, LOL!) and then went back to the ship. That evening we had dinner and watched the show from the prior night (rescheduled to this night). We then went to the Lido deck where they had a midnight buffet of Mexican food. It looked nice, but we weren't very hungry since we had a late dinner. It was also a bit rainy.

Tuesday we went into Cozumel by boat tender. We went on a nice beach excursion to Passion Island, but we were actually only on the island until 1 p.m. & the sun didn't come out until around noon, so while we enjoyed it, it would have been nicer with better weather. It was overcast & raining off & on the first few days of our trip. We got back to the pier area and had fun shopping. We really like this store, Los Cinco Soles, in Cozumel. We didn't have to worry about bartering. They had good merchandise for reasonable prices, and plenty of good souvenir stuff for the kids, family & ourselves. We only wished we had known about the Mexican vanilla. Apparently it is great stuff & much stronger than what we can get here. Also, I should have bought 3 sets of maracas, one for each kid, as they really were fairly inexpensive.

Overall, we had a great time even though it was a bit of a rough time (especially for first time cruisers) and we would still love to go again in the future.

Oh and how did my house start swaying back & forth when I walk, while I was away? I wish I had known earlier that when I got back, it would have been beneficial to continue taking the meclizine tablets for a few days.

 

Here are the pictures I've been uploading today from our cruise.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/90284043@N00/page8/

 

This is actually page 8 but they are in reverse order, so I would recommend to look at 8, then 7, then 6, etc. (links to other pages are near the bottom).

 

I think I am finally getting my land-legs back by the way, but I have been awful woozy or something all weekend. Having a cold didn't help though. :p

Have a great day, and thank you for letting me share! I do not know how to make this into an official review. I'm happy to answer any questions though.

[barbevrn]

Great pics! The Holiday was our first ship many moons ago! We LOVED her and quickly got addicted. LOL how well I remember the house (especially the toilet) moving for days afterward. LOL You don't feel the motion on the larger ships, thus don't have that motion problem for days afterward.

 

Again, thanks for sharing! It looks like you'll had a great time!!

[craigmol]

Thank you soo much for all the pictures and the nice review. We can't wait to go! Thanks again!

[BlessedBeingMom]

I forgot to mention that we did not smell any kind of sewage smell until we were in the process of disbarkation (and stuck in a very long line in the hallway on the main deck). We did not feel like they handled the disbarkation process very well. We had been told they would call by color group. Well, they called for self-disbarkation first (of course) which seemed to take forever. We had way too much stuff to do that, so we waited. Then they called 4 color groups at once. Not much later, they called for everyone else (all at once). We were only on the sixth floor (one floor above main deck) and yet we stood in line forever waiting to get off the ship. It was really quite frustrating (and hot). We finally got off the ship, then waited a while longer for a porter. We were finally driving away around 11 a.m.

[IllinoisCruiser]

Thanks for the great review and the pictures. Sounds like you and your DH had a great time. We are going on the Holiday on 3/26/07.

[missouri_chick]

:) BlessedBeingMom...Do you have a copy of the Capers?

Our first cruise will be 3/3 on the Holiday as well. Your pictures were wondeful,thanks soo much for sharing them with us!

[silentbob007]

I agree about Los Cincos Soles ... by far my favorite store in Cozumel. Good prices and quality merchandise.

[DqALEX]

Thank You for a great review.

[elizablake]

Thank you so much for the great review and photos!

[BlessedBeingMom]

:) BlessedBeingMom...Do you have a copy of the Capers?

Our first cruise will be 3/3 on the Holiday as well. Your pictures were wondeful,thanks soo much for sharing them with us!

 

I have them, but don't have anything to scan them with. I could try taking a picture of them though if you would like. I have one for each day. I think we kept them all.

[BlessedBeingMom]

double post

[cf32521]

Thanks for the great review -- we were also on this cruise. We did, indeed, have a very rocky ride the second night out. It sounds like you handled it much better than me. I was very anxious! I wouldn't even look out the window! But in spite of that, I will definitely cruise again!

 

We had no problems with disembarkation. We did not do self-assist. We were on the Main deck and it took us only about 15 minutes to go through the entire process. We were on the road by 10:00.

 

I also want to note that the cruise director announced that the wait staff and housekeeping staff had just been voted the best of the entire Carnival fleet! They were great!

 

The only complaint I have is that we didn't know the Extreme Country show was being held on Monday night. I talked to a lot of people that weren't aware of it.

 

I came home exhausted but it was a great cruise.

[cf32521]

Thanks for the great review -- we were also on this cruise. We did, indeed, have a very rocky ride the second night out. It sounds like you handled it much better than me. I was very anxious! I wouldn't even look out the window! But in spite of that, I will definitely cruise again!

 

We had no problems with disembarkation. We did not do self-assist. We were on the Main deck and it took us only about 15 minutes to go through the entire process. We were on the road by 10:00.

 

I also want to note that the cruise director announced that the wait staff and housekeeping staff had just been voted the best of the entire Carnival fleet! They were great!

 

The only complaint I have is that we didn't know the Extreme Country show was being held on Monday night. I talked to a lot of people that weren't aware of it.

 

I came home exhausted but it was a great cruise.

[LHP]

rats and double rats !!! (double post)

[LHP]

Thanks for the great review -- we were also on this cruise. We did, indeed, have a very rocky ride the second night out. It sounds like you handled it much better than me. I was very anxious! I wouldn't even look out the window! But in spite of that, I will definitely cruise again!

 

 

I also want to note that the cruise director announced that the wait staff and housekeeping staff had just been voted the best of the entire Carnival fleet! They were great!

 

I came home exhausted but it was a great cruise.

 

A friend of mine (Pat) does the Promenade gig on the Holiday. I just got an email from him and he is really enjoying this smaller ship. He said that everyone was really close...like a small town. (especially compared to the larger Carnival ships he has done) I think he leaves on the 26th of this month for his vacation. He is really good...even played the Vatican back in 2004!